By their very nature, successful musicals can generate royalties for their investors for many years after the show's initial run. If a stage musical becomes a big hit, the chances are pretty good that it will make it to the silver screen.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend for successful movies to be adapted into stage musicals. While the traditional stage-to-screen direction may have been reversed, one key factor remains the same: the bottom line with regard to an artist's intellectual property. Anything that can diversify a show's revenue stream so that money keeps coming in is a boon to the creative team and their angels.
As one examines past decades, interesting patterns start to emerge. From the 1940s to the 1980s, lots of stage musicals were transformed into movies:
However, from the 1980s to today, the direction has been reversed, with more films being adapted into stage musicals.
At the end of October I had a rare opportunity to attend performances of two beloved musicals. Although one began its life on a stage and drew a cult following for screenings of its film adaptation, the other began life a
In recent years, there has been a growing trend for successful movies to be adapted into stage musicals. While the traditional stage-to-screen direction may have been reversed, one key factor remains the same: the bottom line with regard to an artist's intellectual property. Anything that can diversify a show's revenue stream so that money keeps coming in is a boon to the creative team and their angels.
As one examines past decades, interesting patterns start to emerge. From the 1940s to the 1980s, lots of stage musicals were transformed into movies:
- 1920s: Show Boat.
- 1930s: Anything Goes, DuBarry Was A Lady .
- 1940s: Annie Get Your Gun, Brigadoon, Carousel, Finian's Rainbow, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Lady in the Dark, Pal Joey, Kiss Me, Kate, South Pacific and Oklahoma!
- 1950s: Call Me Madam, Damn Yankees, Flower Drum Song, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, The King and I, Kismet, The Music Man, My Fair Lady, The Pajama Game, Paint Your Wagon, Silk Stockings, The Sound of Music, and West Side Story.
- 1960s: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Bye Bye Birdie, Cabaret, Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, Funny Girl, Hair, Hello, Dolly! How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Mame, Man of La Mancha, Sweet Charity, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, 1776, and Oliver!
- 1970s: A Chorus Line, Annie, A Little Night Music, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Chicago, Evita, Godspell, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
- 1980s: Dreamgirls, Into the Woods, La Cage aux Folles, Les Misérables, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Phantom of the Opera.
- 1990s: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Rent, and Mamma Mia!
- 2000s: Jersey Boys, The Producers.
However, from the 1980s to today, the direction has been reversed, with more films being adapted into stage musicals.
- 1960s: Carnival! Golden Rainbow, Henry, Sweet Henry, Here's Love, Illya Darling, Promises, Promises, Sweet Charity, and 110 in the Shade.
- 1970s: Applause, Ballroom, Gigi, On the 20th Century, Shenandoah, Sugar and The Wiz.
- 1980s: Carrie, Fame, Grand Hotel, Meet Me In St. Louis, Nine, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Singin' in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, Woman of the Year, and 42nd Street.
- 1990s: Beauty and the Beast, Big: The Musical, Footloose, The Goodbye Girl, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King, Martin Guerre, My Favorite Year, Passion, State Fair, Sunset Boulevard, Victor/Victoria, and The Wiz.
- 2000s: A Catered Affair, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Billy Elliot: The Musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Color Purple, Cry-Baby, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Flashdance the Musical, The Full Monty, Grey Gardens, Hairspray, High School Musical on Stage! Legally Blonde, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Monty Python's Spamalot, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The Producers, Shrek The Musical, Sister Act, Sweet Smell of Success, Tarzan: The Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, White Christmas, Xanadu, Young Frankenstein, and 9 to 5.
- 2010s: Aladdin, An American in Paris, Bring It On: The Musical, Bullets Over Broadway, Catch Me If You Can, Elf: The Musical, Finding Neverland, Ghost the Musical, Heathers: The Musical, Honeymoon in Vegas, King Kong, Kinky Boots, Newsies, Rocky the Musical, School of Rock, and Women of the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
At the end of October I had a rare opportunity to attend performances of two beloved musicals. Although one began its life on a stage and drew a cult following for screenings of its film adaptation, the other began life a